One Thousand Years
by sunny-bear
Summary: Berwald has lived many lives, and has loved Jryö in every single one. SuFin, human names used.
1. Chapter 1

The first memory I have of him is blurry. I wish I could remember more of it, it would be nice to relive the moment I first met him. I love his thick blond hair, and his alarming, almost violet eyes, now, but seeing them for the first time again would be refreshing.

I remember getting off the trade ship that day, surveying my new surroundings. I had never been in this area of the world, and was eager to soak in the new sights. The people here were curious about the large ship, and had gathered on the shore to meet us. I, of course, was curious about the rumors that these people were gifted with magic. I surveyed the crowd, looking for anyone who looked particularly wizardly, and then, I saw him.

The most perfect man I had ever seen. He was short, and his blond hair lay thick on his head. He was looking straight at me, and his features were soft, and his skin white as fresh snow. He was beautiful, and as I and the rest of my shipmates waded through the crowd, I tried to draw closer to him. He was wearing a green tunic, with red embroidery on the neck. That, along with his calfskin boots, and rich brown leggings, you could tell he was very wealthy. When I was close enough, I saw his remarkable eyes for the first time. I think his eyes are what did me in, they were brighter and more precious-looking than any gem stone.

The town's mayor welcomed my group with open arms, and we feasted at a festival that was thrown for us. The beautiful man turned out to be the mayor's sun, and I sat nearby him at a table during the long meal. I tried not to stare, but I could not help myself. He was truly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. We stayed in the town for about two weeks, and however hard I tried to attempt to make contact with the man, he would shrink away. From the expression on his face every time I approached him, I suppose I scared him. As I always have. We left the town, to make our way to the land of the Rus. The beautiful man was on my mind most of the time, and he was the last thing I thought of before our ship went down. I drowned fairly quickly, which made things easier, I suppose. Instead of the seashell gilded halls of *Aegir and Ran I was expecting, I was a new person.

A brand new person. A baby, in the arms of a woman I had never seen in my life.

Reincarnation.

I grew up, and it was odd, I could remember the life I had lived before. The memories were just there, and always had. I was fully aware that I was not who I was, that I was who I was before. I am who I was before. However, in the life before, I had been a merchant. In this one, I was a warrior.

I must have killed hundreds of men. I was a fierce warrior, first one into battle, last one out. Not because I necessarily enjoyed it, but because it was needed. We needed the people's belongings, their food and resources.

Out of the so many men, women, and children I killed, one stood out. It was the beautiful man. We were on a raid, and I swung my sword around, slicing and cutting left and right, when my eyes fell on him. He was there, the beautiful man, who I had loved a lifetime ago. He was younger than he was so many years before, but I could still tell it was him. He couldn't be more than 15 years old, and there he was, bleeding out on the ground. Someone had sliced his torso open, and left him on the ground to die. It was the most horrible thing I had ever seen. A haze fell over everything, and he was all that mattered. I threw down my sword, and crouched down next to him. I held him in my arms, and tried to keep from crying.

It must have been very odd to him, a stranger, a hulking, scary-faced man, soaked in blood, holding him, and soaking his sweat-covered face in tears.

He stared at me with his beautiful eyes, and I stared right back. His arms, which had been applying pressure to his torso, raised up to my face. He traced my jaw with a blood soaked hand, and I swallowed heavily. Then, in a fluid motion, he tilted my head back and sliced my neck with the knife I had not seen before.

I wasn't too sad about it, he didn't know the love I felt for him, and I was his enemy. I did not, do not blame him for what he did.

The next lives I had I never saw him, never saw my beautiful man. I was a soldier, a farmer, a slave, a poet, an artist, a blacksmith, a carpenter, the list goes on and on. I lived a lonely existence those long years, staying away from both man and woman. People thought I holy, staying alone and pure, but they did not realize that the love I felt was not for the Christian god that had come around, but the love I felt for an heir, a shepherd, a cobbler, a tanner, a soldier, my beautiful man.

My next life, I was the heir to my father, a lord. Our land was close to where I met my beautiful man for the first time. And how wonderful it was to see him, there again, at last, after so many lifetimes. He was a house slave on the estate, and we grew up together. We were best friends, Jryö and I. He learned to overlook my hardened and hateful face, and I didn't have to overlook anything on him. He was perfect.

It was hard to contain my love, having him so close, and having him care for me so much. The summer of my sixteenth year was a fun one, spent with him. We lay outside one night, enjoying soft, white bread we had nabbed from the kitchen. We talked about things I can't really recall. What I do recall was kissing him.

He stared at me, his eyes widened in alarm. He looked terrified.

"Jryö, I-"

But he was already gone. He had ran.

After that, we were no longer friends.

Of course, loving another man in that day and age was sinful. As it would be for hundreds of years.

Yet, I could not stop.

As a painter, a philosopher, a musician, he was there. Always there. If there was a god behind all this, he was surely mocking me.

I would see him for a few seconds, or we would know each other for years. Only ever friends. Or enemies. In many lives he has hated me, in many he has killed me. Still I can't stop the way I feel.

Some lives he lives, it breaks my heart. He has lived harshly. So have I, but it does not matter how I have fared. All that matters is him.

Time passed. I have lived so many lives, remembered them all.

Over a thousand years have passed since I met him, Jryö, my beautiful man. He has been a constant, as has my love.

My name is Berwald Oxenstierna.

The year is 2013, and this time, my love is being returned.

•••

_A/N: *Aegir and Ran were the Norse god and goddess of the ocean, in case you didn't know._

_I've had this whole idea in my head for a while, of reincarnated SuFin. I just wanted to write a little ficlet for it. It would mean a lot if you left a review, tell me if you like it, or if you don't. And if you would like to see more of this idea, it would be rad if you would let me know! I'm not really sure if I want to continue this, so I would love to have some of your opinions. _

_Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

Every one of my lives is split into two sections, I believe. One part is the years I go without him, and the next is the days, weeks, months, years I know him.

Some lives I know him for minutes, and others we are lifelong friends. The second is harder, I think. Its hard to be around someone you love so much, but can't let them know that you love them. I didn't want to repeat that whole kissing mess, that was truly awful. Lives go by, and he's there, and then he's gone.

Jryö, Jryö, Jryö. This life, we met in college. I was walking through the grocery store, picking up some junk food to eat while studying for this test I was worried about. I reached for some off-brand snack cakes of some kind, but before I can, I'm knocked over by a shopping cart. Of course, I didn't know it was a shopping cart at first. I was thinking maybe a rhino-some-sort-of-dinosaur hybrid, because it_ hurt_.

"Oh, god, sorry, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

I don't want to sound like some cheesy rom-com script, but I might as well. The pain literally just vanished at the sound of that voice. It was him. He was there. He was here and he nearly flattened me with his shopping cart but it didn't matter because it was_ him_.

A hand touches my shoulder. "C'mon, are you okay?"

I look up, and there he is. He is as beautiful as ever. His eyes widen, and he starts back a little.

"I'm sorry, please don't be angry!"

I lower my gaze, looking at the floor. "'M not angry, don' worry."

"Oh." He lets out a nervous laugh. "Are you hurt?"

"No." Yes. But it doesn't matter, you are here. I look back up at him.

He offers me his hand, and I take it. He pulls me up onto my feet. He was always stronger than he looked. Which explained why that cart hurt so much.

"Sorry again."

"'S'alright."

"I probably should have been watching where I was going, huh?"

"Mm."

His mouth tilts up at the corners. "Don't talk much?"

"Not much," I agree.

He holds out his hand again. "I'm Jryö. I go to university here."

I take his hand, and shake it. I make sure to let go rather quickly. "Berwald. Me too."

Jryö pulls his phone out of his pocket, and lets out a string of curses under his breath. I smile. That potty mouth comes out when you least expect it. "I'm late for this study thing. I should get going. It was nice meeting you, though! I'll see you around."

He turns his cart around and heads for the cash registers. As soon as he's out of sight, I face the boxes of snack cakes, bury my head in my hands, to hide the huge grin on my face. He was here! He was here at my school, and I was going to make sure I would see him again. I loved him, I loved him, I loved him. I turn back around, and see a cereal box on the ground. Jryö must have dropped it. I grab it, and start running towards the cash registers. I catch myself, though, and slow down to a speed walk. I don't want him to think I'm weird by my sprinting over there, but I needed to make sure I got to him before he left. And I do, right as he's heading through the doors.

"Jryö!" Oh god, I sounded way too excited. I clear my throat. "Jryö."

He turns around, and smiles. "Hi!"

I hold up the box of cereal. "Forgot this. You forgot this."

He looks in his grocery bags. "I did, didn't I? I really need to get going, though… Could you put it back on the shelf for me, maybe?"

I shoved the box at him. "I'll pay for it. You can go."

"Oh, you really don't have to do that."

"'S no problem."

"I can't ask you to d-"

"Got it."

"But-"

"'S fine."

"Well, alright? Thank you, Berwald!" He smiles brightly. I was probably beet red at this point. His smile was dazzling. "I'll need to pay you back, though."

"Y'don't have to."

"But I want to."

"Oh."

He laughs a little. "So would you want to go get coffee or hot chocolate or something, sometime, maybe?" His voice gets higher as he speaks, and he smiles nervously. Oh god. Oh god.

"Huh?"

Fuck.

"Maybe not, then? If you don't want to do anything, that's fine," he starts, "I wouldn't want to force anything on you, and we just met, right, it would be weird to hang out one on one at first, right, maybe? I'm sorry. Maybe we cou-"

"I would like that." I smiled at him. I really hoped I didn't look creepy, or forced, or anything.

"Oh. Okay. Cool!" He bounces back and forth on his feet. "Do you know the cafe over on King Street? Next to the bank?" I nod. "You want to meet there tomorrow morning, around eight?"

"I have a test then."

"Thursday morning, then? Same time?"

"Sure."

"Awesome. I better get going." He puts the cereal box into one of his bags. "See you Thursday!"

I wave goodbye, and he spins on the ball of his foot, walking out into the parking lot.

I watch him, enraptured by how good he looks, even when wearing a ton of layers to protect from the November chill. I'm broken by my reverie by a cashier lady.

"So are you going to pay for that cereal, or what?"

"Mathias."

"'Sup?"

Mathias, a friend of mine, and I were studying for that test I mentioned earlier. Well, to put that more accurately, I was studying, and he was throwing bits of paper at his friend Lukas to see how mad he could get him. (I use the term 'friend' very loosely with those two. Its more like a toleration, with minor homicidal undertones.)

"Where is King Street?"

"Do you live under a rock?"

"Mathias."

"Do you ever even leave your dorm?"

"_Mathias_."

"Its the main street around here. You are so dumb sometimes, you know that? You know that Chinese restaurant I took you to, like, a week ago? That's on King Street."

"Oh."

He throws a piece of paper at me. "So why do you need to know?"

"'M meetin' up with someone."

"A date?!"

I felt my face heat up. "No."

"A date!"

"'S not. He just owes me money."

"Date!" He yells it that time.

"No," Lukas says. "He owes him money. Stop yelling."

"An' he's buyin' me a coffee."

"And he's buying him a coffee." Lukas supplies.

Mathias slumps down in his seat. "When is this date?"

"Not a date. Thursday mornin'."

"Did you recommend the coffee, or was it him?" Lukas asks.

"Him."

Matthias throws a bit of paper at Lukas, and Lukas throws one of his binders.

"Is he cute?" Lukas asks, a little loudly, to drown out Mathias' over exaggerated sounds of pain.

I nod. "Yeah. Real cute." I smile.

"Date!" Mathias calls, a little feebly, from the floor.

"What's his name?"

"Jryö."

"Short, blond hair?"

"How'd ya know?"

"He's in my English class."

Mathias makes a show of hauling himself back up into his chair, breathing heavily. He drapes himself over my books. "You should put in a good word about Ber! You'll need to supply the most noticeable traits Waldo has, right? Say he's a great conversationalist, with a beautiful smile!" I glare at him.

"Don' even mention me."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Mathias, Lukas, and I then fell back into our paper throwing and studying, respectively.

_A/N: Thanks for the positive response guys! I thought I might as well continue this. Let me know what you think of this chapter, I love hearing from you guys!_


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